You glance at Willow. "Do you mind?" She shrugs, still looking around the room as if she couldn't quite believe it was there.
"Sure, do whatever." She takes a sip and goes back to staring intently at the red-headed owner of the house. Seeing her occupied, you turn to your sister, lean down and giving her a nudge towards said girl.
"Keep her company? I won't be long." She looks between you and your challenger, nodding before sliding onto the sofa next to her friend, leaning against her.
"Alright." You turn back to the girl, who had been patiently waiting for you to finish. "Just a quick spar then?" She nods and you follow her out the door, restraining yourself to just a twitch when she transforms.
"Follow." Your eyebrow twitches at her tone, but when she shoots off, you quickly rise after her, the ground beneath you blurring until there is nothing but forest. She abruptly stops, floating down into a clearing and shrinking back into her human form, nodding when you set down a second later.
"Rules?" Your armour forms, but you leave your weapon out for now.
"Fight until one calls to stop, don't try to cripple or scar." You nod, and let your weapon form, seeing her drop into a low stance as well, tail swishing slightly. "Go?" You nod and a spark snaps in the air, pulling her hair upwards. Electricity magic? You let your barrier expand just above your skin, letting a pair of fire spears grow above your head. Can't use ice, water conducts electricity. Your opponent hums as she watches you shift, little tendrils of static jumping between her limbs as she starts moving towards you.
She doesn't have a weapon, probably uses her fists then. You tighten your grip on your sword. She has a significant advantage here, I can't attack her freely in case I really hurt her, but she can punch me as hard as she likes. Four spears, six spears, you manage to start on the eighth before she closes to strike, you decide to see how she reacts to a strongish swing.
(Infinity Edge: +1,265 Base Damage, - 515 Careful Attack, +6 Dice = 756 Total Damage
Kanna: +4,000 Base Resilience, + 2,087 Dice, -4,565 Juggernaut = 1,521 Total Reduction
Kanna: 80,000 - 0 = 80,000)
She lifts an arm and your blade skitters off of her fluffy dress as if it was made of steel, it's only your experience with Daiyu's inexplicable hardness that lets you keep your balance, the little dragon girl taking advantage of your brief vulnerability and striking, her fist blurring forwards and slamming into your chest with the force of a speeding train.
(Fist: +7,000 Base Damage, -6,500 Don't Break Humans, +,1671 dice = 2,171 Total Damage
Ignition Knight: +565 Base Resilience, +513 Dice = 1,078 Total Reduction
Ignition Knight Health: 2,205 - 1,093 = 1,112)
You let out a strangled grunt as the air in your lungs is forced out, the force of the punch throwing you backwards, only a quick spin and burst of flight slamming you back onto your feet, your boots tearing the ground up as you skid to a stop. "Oww." You try your best to look nonchalant, but the short quick breaths you were using to force oxygen back into your lungs tell the truth, your armour creaking slightly as you move back to a fighting position.
For her part the dragon girl looks surprised, looking between her fist and you with wide eyes. "Uhhh." She blinks, little sparks dancing along her hair as she looks at you. "I thought most humans were really fragile." She looks at your generally dishevelled state, letting out a long hum. "I guess Magical Girls really are different?" She nods to herself. "I should hit you harder." You wince at the thought of her hitting you any harder than she already is, quickly lifting a hand.
"Please don't, I'll die." You hide your wince as you roll your shoulders, floating your spears back over your shoulder, the fifth pair joining them as you start floating. Can't let her hit me again. You feel something shift uncomfortably, a large part of the jagged pain in your chest fading as your breathing eases. Did she break my ribs?
(Ignition Knight Health: 1,112 + 110 = 1,222)
She nods, looking back at her hand and slowly clenching it. "Right, only hit you that hard." She locks her eyes back on you, watching you slowly float higher. "No fair, I can't partially transform my wings to fly yet." The odd mixture of calm and annoyance in her words makes you want to sigh. Why is EVERYONE I meet messed up in the head in some way. At this point, you should probably just assume that everyone you meet has, by default, had something terrible happen to them and is in some way mentally twisted or odd.
Shaking your head, you focus back on the present. "Well, that's too bad." You line up two pairs of spears and see her eyes instantly lock onto them. She's quick. You really aren't sure if your spears will work... Fuck it. You line up all ten of them, slowly floating a good twenty metres over her head. "Heads up." You really don't need to give the warning, but you are just sparring, you don't really want to hurt her. Too much.
(Ignition Knight Health: 1,222 + 110 = 1,332)
(Thermal Spear: +1,000 Base Damage, +381 Dice = 1,381 Total Damage
1,381 x 10 = 13,810 Total End Damage
Dragon Scale: 30% Reduction
9,967 Final End Damage
Kanna: +4,000 Base Resilience, + 2,572 Dice = 6,572 Total Reduction
Kanna Health: 80,000 - 3,095 = 76,905)
When the explosion fades, a silently smouldering, literally, girl looks up at you. You see her glance down at the little fires burning across her, patting them down after she brushes the loose ash off of her clothes. "Oww." Your eyebrow twitches when she mimics you, only this time you can actually see that she is slightly burnt, very slightly. Guess I can hurt her, barely. She's eyeing you a lot more seriously now that you've actually managed to hurt her, the sparks dancing across her head growing in number as she continues smouldering.
(Ignition Knight Health: 1,332 + 110 = 1,442
Burn: 3% Health
Kanna Health: 76,905 - 2,400 = 74,505)
She winces slightly as the fires continue burning, but when she sees you start rebuilding your lost spears she frowns, lifting a slender hand towards you, the sparks increasing in their dancing. Oh, here we go. You grit your teeth, letting your barrier extend from you further. Can't dodge lightning. You don't bother tying to fly away, you are the highest thing in the sky. I could Halt her, but... she shouldn't do anything too dangerous, it's just a spar. You grit your teeth harder, reluctantly forcing yourself to let her attack, guessing that the long build up was so you could react to it. Oooohkay.
(Ignition Knight Health: 1,442 + 110 = 1,552
Burn: 3% Health
Kanna Health: 74,505 - 2,400 = 72,105)
(Electrocute: +3,500 Base Damage, -1,500 Don't Break Humans, +896 dice = 2,869 Total Damage
Ignition Knight: +565 Base Resilience, +309 Dice = 874 Total Reduction
Alpha and Omega: 25% Reduction
Ignition Knight Health: 1,552 - 1,496 = 56)
The roar of thunder deafens you and everything stops, you can't feel anything, your eyes flash blinded and ears ringing. When you come back to your senses, you feel a pair of arms gently holding you, the girl's voice quietly arguing with herself in Japanese. You let out a groan and she stops, looking down at you. You try to move, but your limbs stubbornly refuse to do more than twitch until you feel your magic refresh you, roughly coughing before trying to speak.
"Oooooow." She snorts, not putting you down as she transforms around you, a sort of clingy static holding you to her back as she takes flight, the air somehow barely even a breeze as she tears through the sky.
"Sorry, for being so rough." Her head is bent back to look at you and as your magic refreshes you again, you sit up, ignoring the slight twitching in your fingers. "I'm used to sparring with Kaa-san, and I can't really hurt her with anything I do." You snort, doing your best to wave it off as you begin to regain feeling, of course it's pain that comes first.
"It's fine, I should have expected something like this." You wince as she stops, transforming back until she is holding you up, your legs just about managing your weight. "Can you give me a minute, I don't want to worry my sister." She nods, leaning back against the railing behind you while keeping her grip, only releasing it a few minutes later when you gently push her hands off, letting your armour fade away. "There, all better." The dragon girl eyes you, looking surprised by your rapid recovery, the slight burn marks on her shoulders still remaining.
"You heal fast."
You shrug, pushing the door open. "I guess." The room looks over at your words, your sister letting out an audible sigh of relief when she sees you without a mark. Kanna steps past you, Kobayashi quickly lifting her teacup away from her as the girl flops down onto her lap, letting out a vague mumble as the older woman starts stroking her hair.
"You didn't break anything did you?" You step out of the entry corridor, accepting your cup back from Tohru, not noticing her eyebrow twitch when you quickly warm the cup back to steaming.
"No." Kobayashi moves her tired eyes to the girl in her lap, humming doubtfully. "Really! She's fine." You see her glance at you, quickly looking you up and down before sighing.
"Thank you, I know you've been having problems being gentle." The girl freezes and you take a sip, watching Tohru scratch her cheek under the redheads gaze. "You should have told me, rather than getting Tohru to fix it." The girl mumbles something again. "Of course I noticed, you think I didn't notice you've stopped hugging me?" She continues brushing the girls hair as you move to stand behind your kids, taking another sip. Kanna mumbles something again and the older woman sighs, not stopping her brushing as she looks at you. "I'm sorry that she dragged you off like that, she wasn't too rough was she?"
You suppress a wince as you remember the state you were in, outwardly shaking your head. "No, she was very careful." She smiles at your words and you ignore the blatant stare from the older dragon.
"That's good." She pokes her glasses back up her nose and straightens up as best she can with her lap taken. "Now, what was it that had Tohru bring you back here?" You rest your hand on Willow's shoulder, leaning down to whisper to her.
"We don't need to say anything, we can just leave." She blinks, looking up at you as you interrupt her thoughts. She was a thousand miles away.
"No, it's fine." She looks back at the... odd family of three. Wait, doesn't that make Tohru the Kaa-san... the mother? "They're good people." Deliberately ignoring your previous thought you stop leaning down, doubting her words, but not willing to prod her about it. She takes a deep breath before speaking.
"I got taken from my home, made to do what a god wanted and now I've done that I'm going to die." She presses her lips together and shrugs. "Isn't life just wonderful." You're glad that you're behind her, it means that you don't need to hide your expression. Fucking shitty gods, what did she do to deserve this? The rest of the room is quiet, the silence broken by a squeak as Kanna drags Willow into her lap, your sister still latched onto her. They both squeak and Kobayashi makes a pained noise as more weight finds it's way on top of her, but she doesn't object as Kanna very gently sandwiches the dying girl between her chest and your sister's hug.
Neither of them say anything, but Tohru does silently walk over to you, gently tugging your hand until you follow her into another room, the door sliding open silently. When you step through, she closes it just as carefully, letting out a long sigh. "It's a little cruel for both of them." You push down your own feelings with familiar speed, looking at the way she seems to sag slightly. "But it's for the best." She turns to you, the door shimmering slightly. "Kanna had a friend her age die like this, she just suddenly got sick and was dead before the week was up."
"And you decided that bringing a reminder of that home was for the best?" You are more than happy to ignore the complicated ball of feelings in your chest for being angry at the older dragon in front of you. "That is more than a 'little' cruel." She winces and nods.
"That's true, but she just never seemed to be able to get over it." She scratches her cheek and sighs. "We tried everything, but she was just stuck in the past." You feel like you are starting to get what she is implying, and it is not doing anything for your anger. "I thought that if she could have the chance to 'go back and do it again', she would finally stop thinking if there was anything different she could have done." She shrugs weakly, a lost look floating across her face as she stares through you.
You resist the urge to impulsively say something, at the way she's using one of your kid's imminent death for her own purposes. But I would do the same, wouldn't I? Clenching your hand tightly, you take several deep breaths and step closer to the woman. Her slit eyes focus on you as you approach, blinking in surprise as you force yourself to relax your hand and gently hug her. "You think she'll help?" Her arms slowly lift themselves around your shoulders and she nods, little threads of her hair tangling with your hands.
"She'll do her best. Even if she can't do anything, she'll make it the best damn end she can." Your shoulders shake slightly as you press your head forwards, stubbornly fighting back the wetness building in your eyes as you feel her hands slowly moving on your back. "Shh, it's alright, you don't need to keep up a tough face for them now." Your grip tightens and your resolve falters. "Just let it out, it's alright."
[] Cry
[] Grit your teeth
+15xp Here There Be Dragons
+10xp Got your ass handed to you